Associate Partner, Head of Strategy

VSA Partners•Chicago, IL

4h•$200,000 - $275,000

About The Position

As Associate Partner, Head of Strategy, you will lead strategic thinking across client engagements and new business opportunities while serving as a steward of VSA’s strategic voice internally, with clients, and in the market. Strategy at VSA elevates insight, simplifies complexity, and drives accountability through measurement. This role is pivotal in shaping brand direction, driving growth, and ensuring integrated solutions that connect creativity with media. You will collaborate with creative teams, media specialists, and senior leadership to deliver strategies that advance measurement and accountability, anticipate industry shifts, and champion the thoughtful use of AI. About VSA Partners VSA Partners is a leading brand and marketing agency within the Meet The People network. We help businesses create meaningful connections with their audiences through strategy, design, and technology. Our integrated approach combines creativity and media expertise, enabling clients to navigate complexity and achieve measurable impact. Collaborating with partners like True Media Services, we deliver holistic solutions that align brand, marketing, and media strategies. As an independent agency, we offer the agility, transparency, and speed today’s clients demand with the culture of collaboration and accountability our people value. Why This Role, Why Now VSA is at an inflection point, with clients navigating unprecedented change and strategy evolving due to new tools and complexity. This role offers the opportunity to shape how strategy drives growth and innovation for clients and the agency, positioning VSA as a leader in integrated brand, campaign and media solutions.

Requirements

10+ years in brand or marketing strategy leadership roles.
Proven track record of driving strategic initiatives for major brands.
Expertise in integrated marketing and media collaboration.
Experience establishing measurement and effectiveness frameworks.
Fluency in AI and emerging technologies as strategic tools.
Exceptional storytelling and presentation skills for C-suite audiences.
Entrepreneurial mindset and ability to challenge conventional thinking.
Strong leadership and team development capabilities.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.
Deep understanding of integrated marketing, including creative and media.
Comfortable engaging with senior client stakeholders and C-suite executives.
Experience in agency settings with a focus on growth and innovation.

Responsibilities

Define and articulate brand and marketing strategies for diverse clients.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders.
Lead strategic development for pitches and new business opportunities.
Collaborate with True Media Services to align creative and media strategies.
Advance measurement practices tied to outcomes and impact.
Champion responsible use of AI in research, insight, and optimization.
Mentor and inspire a team of strategists, fostering excellence.
Stay ahead of industry trends and bring innovative thinking to client work.
Shape strategic narratives expressed through compelling storytelling.
Ensure integration of creativity, media, and measurement for holistic solutions.
Partner closely with VSA’s Head of Growth to sharpen and express the agency’s strategic POV in pitches and shape strategic narratives through compelling storytelling.
Set the vision for VSA’s strategy practice across brand, marketing, experience, and communications. Build strategic capability and evolve frameworks, tools, and ways of working.
Establish and strengthen measurement practices tied to outcomes and impact. Champion closer alignment of media, creative, and measurement.
Champion responsible use of AI in research, insight development, ideation, and optimization. Help the team build fluency with emerging tools while maintaining strategic rigor.